Seat spring



SEAT SPRING Filed March 8, 1966 INVENTOR WALTER V. SLOMINSKI ATTORNEYS United States Patent Otllice Patented Mar. 1 1967 3,309,075 v EAT SPRING Walter V. Slorninsirhlexington, Ky, assignor to Hoover Ball and Bearing Company, aline, Mich, a corporation of Michigan v Filedltfar. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 532,759 2 (Ilairns. (Cl. 26711t1) This invention relates generally to spring assemblies for seating structures and more particularly to an improved spring for seats which must be relatively thin, such as the seats for dining room chairs and the like.

In the past, the practice has been to manufacture dining room, and other chairs which must be fairly light in Weight for ready movement, with merely a padded seat frame or a seat frame in which conventional sinuous spring strips are mounted on the frame. It is an object of this invention to provide an improved spring for chair seats of the above'described type which is easy to install, will not shift around in use, will not pull away from the frame, is economical to manufacture and install, and will perform its spring function over a prolonged service life.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a seat frame provided with the springs of this invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 as seen from substantially the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

With reference to the drawing, the improved springs of this invention, indicated generally at 10, are illustrated in FIG. 1 mounted on a seat frame 12 for a dining room chair or the like in which the seat portion of the chair must be of a relatively thin lightweight construction. The illustrated frame 12 is formed of wood and is provided with an irregularly shaped seat opening 14 which must be spanned by the springs 1d. The usual padding and upholstery material (not shown) are then applied over the top sides of the springs and secured to the frame 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, each of the springs 10 consists of a single length of wire that is return bent upon itself to form a body 16 having two side-by-side sinuous portions 18 and 20. The portion 18 and 26 extend longitudinally in a direction fore and aft of the seat opening 14 and have their longitudinal axes 22 and 24 arranged in a slightly diverging relation as shown in FIG. 1. The length of wire from which the body 16 is formed has a pair of substantially straight end portions 26 and a substantially straight center section 30, which, when the wire is return bent upon itself form the front and rear ends, respectively, of the body 16.

The wire portions 26 which form the front end of the body 16 are arranged in a spaced relation on the top side of the frame 12 adjacent the forward end of the seat opening 14. Staples 28 are extended across the straight end portions 26 and into the frame 12 to secure the front end of the body 16 to the top side of the frame 12.

The sinuous portions 18 and 2%) of the spring body 16 are conventionally shaped with the usual straight torsion 'bars 36 which extend transversely of the axis of the spring strip with adjacent torsion bars 36 being connected by generally U-shape connecting bars 38. The center wire section 30 extends between the sinuous spring portions 13 and 211 at the rear end of the body 16 and is located so that the rear end torsion bars, indicated at 36a, constitute endwise extensions of the section 30. The rear end of the body 16 is secured to the frame 12 by a staple 32 extended across the section 30 and by staples 34 extended across pnd the rear end connecting bars, indicated at 58a, adjacent their juncture with the torsion bars 35a.

The springs 11 of thisinvention are advantageous because they can readily be attached to the frame 12 in the positions shown in FIG. 1 so that the two springs 14) diverge in a rear to front direction and so that the sinuous spring portions 18 and 213 in two springs 1% are substantially equally spaced across the opening 14. As shown in FIG. 2, each spring 141 is secured to the frame 12 so that it is arched across the opening 1 3' to provide the desired resilient support for seating purposes. By virtue of the configuration of each spring 1% with the straight connecting portion 3% at the rear end thereof, the spring will be maintained in its mounted position during use, will not pull out from the frame 12, and points of stress concentration in the spring 1% are avoided. This construction therefore enables use of the spring 14) over a prolonged service life. The forwardly diverging relation of the springs 1d and the forwardly diverging arrangement of the axes 22 and 2a. in each spring 1% provides for a location of the wire in the springs 10 on the frame 12 where it will provide maximum seating comfort for the seat occupant. in other words, this arrangement provides for a concentration of wire at the rear area of the seat Where the greatest seating load is supported. This area is usually referred to as the H point, the point below the seating occupants hip socket.

It will be understood that the seat spring which is herein disclosed and described is presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and is not intended to indicate limits of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A seating structure comprising a frame having a front side and a rear side and an opening therebetween, a pair of seat springs each of which is comprised of a single length of wire having a straight center section and a pair of straight end portions and return bent upon itself so that said end portions are spaced apart in a direction lengthwise thereof and are adjacent each other, said return bent length of wire forming a body having a pair of ends one of which is formed by said end portions of said length of wire and the other one of which is formed by said center section, said body having two side-by-side longitudinally extending sinuous portions extending between said ends thereof, each of said sinuous portions being formed by transversely extending torsion bars opposite ends of which are connected by connecting bars, a pair of said torsion bars at one end of said body forming said wire end portions and a pair of torsion bars at the opposite end of said body being formed integral with and constituting extensions of opposite ends of said center section, means mounting said springs on said frame so that the springs extend rear to front of said frame and arch across said opening, said springs beingarranged in a relatively diverging relation rear to front on said frame and the sinuous portions of each spring being relatively diverged in the same direction so as to concentrate the Wire in said springs at the rear area of said frame where the greatest seating load is supported.

2. A seating structure according to claim 1 in which said means mounting said springs on said frame consists of first staples extended into said frame across said end portions, and second staples extended into said frame across said center sections adjacent the centers and ends thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 21,263 11/1939 Kaden 267-1 2,133,611 10/1938 Freund 267--1.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SEATING STRUCTURE COMPRISING A FRAME HAVING A FRONT SIDE AND A REAR SIDE AND AN OPENING THEREBETWEEN, A PAIR OF SEAT SPRINGS EACH OF WHICH IS COMPRISED OF A SINGLE LENGTH OF WIRE HAVING A STRAIGHT CENTER SECTION AND A PAIR OF STRAIGHT END PORTIONS AND RETURN BENT UPON ITSELF SO THAT SAID END PORTIONS ARE SPACED APART IN A DIRECTION LENGTHWISE THEREOF AND ARE ADJACENT EACH OTHER, SAID RETURN BENT LENGTH OF WIRE FORMING A BODY HAVING A PAIR OF ENDS ONE OF WHICH IS FORMED BY SAID END PORTIONS OF SAID LENGTH OF WIRE AND THE OTHER ONE OF WHICH IS FORMED BY SAID CENTER SECTION, SAID BODY HAVING TWO SIDE-BY-SIDE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SINUOUS PORTIONS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID ENDS THEREOF, EACH OF SAID SINUOUS PORTIONS BEING FORMED BY TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING TORSION BARS OPPOSITE ENDS OF WHICH ARE CONNECTED BY CONNECTING BARS, A PAIR OF SAID TORSION BARS AT ONE END OF SAID BODY FORMING SAID WIRE END PORTIONS AND A PAIR OF TORSION BARS AT THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID BODY BEING FORMED INTEGRAL WITH AND CONSTITUTING EXTENSIONS OF OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID CENTER SECTION, MEANS MOUNTING SAID SPRINGS ON SAID FRAME SO THAT THE SPRINGS EXTEND REAR TO FRONT OF SAID FRAME SO ARCH ACROSS SAID OPENING, SAID SPRINGS BEING ARRANGED IN A RELATIVELY DIVERGING RELATION REAR TO FRONT ON SAID FRAME AND THE SINUOUS PORTIONS OF EACH SPRING BEING RELATIVELY DIVERGED IN THE SAME DIRECTION SO AS TO CONCENTRATE THE WIRE IN SAID SPRINGS AT THE REAR AREA OF SAID FRAME WHERE THE GREATEST SEATING LOAD IS SUPPORTED. 